S. 8, Ep. 23: Interview with Crime Writer Lee Anne Post

The Crime Cafe

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with three of the four crime writers who've published a novel under the name Lee Anne Post. Check out our discussion about their novel Thoughts & Prayers. First, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest is a person of many parts as you can see. I have three-quarters of them with me today. Lee Anne Post is the pen name for co-authors Cathy Baldau, Tara Bell, Ginny Fite and K.P. Robbins. I have three of them with me here today—Cathy, Tara, and Ginny. So, welcome. Stories by these authors have appeared in numerous journals, and individually they're published as well in 10 novels, I believe it is. They've worked as reporters and editors covering various types of topics, and they have written a highly relevant novel that entertains and raises important issues, Thoughts & Prayers. So it is my great pleasure to have with me today, [three of the] four authors who represent the one author Lee Anne Post, the collective author. Thanks guys for being here. This is great. All: Thanks for having us. Debbi: Oh my gosh. Well, I'm so glad to have you here. So tell me more about the book Thoughts & Prayers. What is it about? Ginny: Cathy, you go. Cathy: I always get this. The author's scariest question is what is it about? Even though you've worked on it for five years. It's basically about an outcast, overprotected girl who unwittingly lets her boyfriend into their school thinking that he's just going to scare a few people, but he ends up bringing a gun and minutes later, 14 people are dead, and then it's her trying to hide her complicity or she's the accomplice. She's trying to hide that from the authorities. And then as the town and the survivors' grief turns to anger and revenge, she's also trying to hide from them as well. Debbi: My goodness. Ginny: I think of this book as the Crime and Punishment novel of the 21st Century, and really it's basically Ross Konikoff. That was his name, right? She struggles with this issue of how much her guilt will force her to give away, and whether she can conceal herself in plain sight or not, and whether she should help the authorities or not. It is both character driven and plot driven, which is fairly unusual for a crime novel. Debbi: You know it's interesting that you bring up that point of complicity because I'm currently working on a story about my attorney character,